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Public Health & Policy

How medicine is evolving: Bridging generational divides in the profession

Physician
February 19, 2025

I recently came across an ongoing “discussion,” or rather aggressive bantering, in an online physician platform regarding the old guard versus the alleged newer, more entitled, and lazy generation of doctors. Years ago, I would have more staunchly fallen on the side of the old guard. Though I am a solid elder millennial, my “bootstrap” upbringing and Navy career fully encouraged the concept of medicine as a calling vice a …

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Citizenship should not be a condition of treatment

Physician
February 8, 2025

The Hippocratic Oath does not require citizenship as a condition of treatment. The oath, which serves as a foundational ethical guideline for physicians, emphasizes principles such as doing no harm, maintaining patient confidentiality, and practicing medicine ethically and with integrity. It focuses on the physician’s responsibilities to patients and the ethical practice of medicine rather than any conditions related to a patient’s citizenship or nationality.

So, why did this issue surface …

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Murder, vitriol, and hidden costs: inside the health insurance industry’s biggest battles

Policy
February 6, 2025

With the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, many have expressed vitriol towards the insurance industry.

Having worked in non-profit health care all my life, I decided in 2018 to switch to the “dark side,” or the insurance industry, out of curiosity. What is it that they do, and how are they doing it? I thought knowing would make me a better health care worker when I returned.

As a registered nurse case …

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Why the U.S. health care system is failing and how to fix it [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 3, 2025
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Featuring cardiologist Mark Goldfarb, who discusses his KevinMD article “Why the U.S. health care system is failing patients—what every American should know.” Mark sheds light on the realities of physician shortages, the …

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Here’s what the NFL could learn from ancient Rome and the gladiators

Physician
January 29, 2025

It seems unlikely that Paramount Studios released Gladiator Part 2 immediately after the presidential election to diffuse political rancor. They didn’t intend to provide a cathartic release for the nation’s pent-up frustrations. The goal wasn’t to help remove the hissing American tea kettle from such a divisive political flame.

Hollywood made the film to entertain us and make some money in the process. The studio probably released it during the holiday …

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As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces confirmation, a look at his vaccine stance

Physician
January 29, 2025

The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services raises concerns about the potential impact on public health policy. As hearings on his candidacy take place, it is important for senators to consider how his views and public statements have influenced physicians, children, and the broader health care system.

Kennedy has been a prominent figure in the discussion around vaccines, often promoting claims that contradict established …

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The emotional toll of a broken health care system

Physician
January 28, 2025

As a physician and health care leader, I initially declined to comment on the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. I felt that speculating about the shooter’s intent would only sensationalize a terrible act.

Regardless of the circumstances, vigilante violence has no place in a free and just society.

But now, more than a month later, I feel compelled to address one aspect of the story that has been widely misunderstood: the …

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My totally wrong expert predictions for health care in 2025

Policy
January 27, 2025

January

In a blistering commentary, the American Medical Association’s flagship journal, JAMA, condemns the corrosive effect on patient care of the profit-seeking practices of health insurers. Separately, the organization announces that it’s selling the 13 journals in its JAMA Network to a private equity firm for $375 million “in order to enhance our mission of promoting the betterment of public health.”

February

Quickly following up on a campaign pledge to slash the federal …

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10 transformative ideas to redesign a broken health care system: a doctor’s perspective for a more efficient, cost-effective and patient-focused system

Policy
January 25, 2025

The U.S. health care system is an inefficient maze of bureaucracy, redundancies, and waste. As a practicing physician, I see firsthand how these inefficiencies frustrate both providers and patients, inflate costs, and undermine the quality of care. If we are serious about transforming health care into a system that works for everyone, we need bold, outside-the-box solutions. Here are just some of the most glaring inefficiencies I see that could …

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Humanity’s crossroads: peace or nuclear war?

Policy
January 25, 2025

“We are here to make a choice between the quick and the dead …”

With these solemn words, Bernard Baruch, a trusted advisor to U.S. presidents, addressed the United Nations (UN) Atomic Energy Commission in June 1946. Less than a year had passed since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the world stood at a crossroads. Baruch’s message was clear: humanity could either embrace the hope of global peace …

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Murder of an insurance titan: the case for health care reform

Physician
January 21, 2025

Agatha Christie was onto something when she stated, “The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.” Brian Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of the United Health Care insurance company, was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan on December 4th in broad daylight. His assailant, Luigi Mangione, has become a media-fueled darling, with multiple documentary projects already underway to explore the complexities of his crime. …

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States have the power to influence health care

Policy
January 19, 2025

Individual states in the United States can significantly shape key health care areas through policy.

In early 2024, a KKF analysis indicated that Americans collectively held around $220 billion in medical debt.

North Carolina has one of the highest percentages of adults facing medical debt, at 13.4 percent. On July 1, 2024, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) …

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How unclaimed bodies are fueling a medical ethics firestorm

Conditions
January 14, 2025

Last September, NBC News aired a one-sided report on the arrangement between a county coroner and a medical school apropos the transfer of unclaimed corpses with reportedly inadequate effort to find family. In addition to a grieving family, an academic bioethicist was interviewed who expressed horror at the transfer procedure. The report did a disservice both to bioethics and to necessary medical training and research.

In a similar incident, a coroner …

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Why the health care CEO murder reveals America’s broken system

Physician
January 10, 2025

I have been a primary care physician since 1994 and have been reflecting on the tragic murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. The crime stands as a stark reflection of the profound frustrations many Americans feel toward the current health care system, which have been escalating for as long as I can remember. While the act itself is abhorrent and indefensible, its occurrence sheds light on deep systemic issues that …

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Pay for performance and shared savings are good, but they’re not the solution

Policy
January 9, 2025

Think about every health care reform effort we’ve been working on for the last decade or two, including accountable care organizations (ACOs) and the value-based purchasing models from CMS. The vast majority of them use one or both of the following strategies in an attempt to financially reward providers for delivering higher value (it’s like they’ve realized that financial incentives need to be fixed!):

  • Quality bonuses: For providers who deliver …

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What if transitions of care resembled transitions of power?

Physician
January 7, 2025

The peaceful transition of power to the 47th president of the U.S. occurred January 6, 2025. It was the loser of the presidential election who ensured an orderly process and ironically certified the results.

In medicine, transitions of care – whether from inpatient to skilled nursing facility, from hospital to home, or during the passing of responsibility from one practitioner to another – represent pivotal moments in the continuity of patient …

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Why the public’s anger at a health care CEO’s death speaks volumes

Physician
January 3, 2025

It was rich to watch the TV pundits, who excel at creating storms in a teacup, feigning shock at the public response on social media to UnitedHealthcare’s CEO being gunned down. They were aghast at the over 57,000 laugh emojis on the statement of condolence platitudes put out by UnitedHealthcare. Mr. Smercornish on CNN was properly clutching his pearls and, after some scolding, declared at least the responders on the …

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Tobacco’s time warp: How centuries of smoke obscured our future

Policy
January 1, 2025

In the halls of the Smithsonian, we often contemplate how the past shapes our present. But a groundbreaking new study on tobacco use forces us to consider how our present actions will dramatically alter our future.

Research published in The Lancet Public Health reveals a staggering statistic: current smoking trends will rob humanity of over 2 billion years of life by 2050. To put this in perspective, that’s more time than …

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The political crossroads shaping the future of medical training

Policy
December 26, 2024

As a training physician, the experience of navigating graduate medical education in today’s political landscape has introduced unprecedented adversity

Whether transitions in health policy or the continually evolving public perceptions of medicine as a field, trainees are now finding themselves at a unique crossroads where medicine, poignant societal issues, and personal morals intersect. While medicine is often influenced by policy of various forms, the current political climate, charged with intensely debated …

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How payment models shape your doctor’s decisions [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 25, 2024
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

In this episode, family physician Jonathan Staloff and internal medicine physician Joseph H. Joo join us to discuss the challenges and opportunities in reshaping health care systems. Drawing from their book, Reshaping Health …

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